China

China actively seeks bilateral trade and investment deals outside of the World Trade Organisation. The government has put priority on forging agreements with neighbouring countries of Asia, but also many other countries on whom it relies for minerals, energy, food, infrastructure or geopolitical support.

China is currently in bilateral negotiations with the European Union (investment), the Gulf Cooperation Council, Israel, Mauritius, Moldova, New Zealand (to upgrade the current agreement), Norway, Pakistan (upgrade), Singapore (upgrade), the Southern African Customs Union and Sri Lanka, as well as with Japan and Korea for a possible a three-way deal. Further down the horizon, there is talk of eventual negotiations with Canada, Chile (upgrade), Colombia, Fiji, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Palestine, Panama, Peru (upgrade), Switzerland (upgrade) and Uruguay.

Regionally, China has proposed a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, an initiative that would encompass the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation nations, in direct rivalry with US-led projects like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But that intitiative is currently on hold.

China is currently part of the talks on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). RCEP is a mega-regional trade agreement proposed by the Association of South East Asian Nations with its FTA partners : China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

If concluded, it would give Chinese corporations market access to India — in goods, services and investment — that it does not have through its own FTAs.

China also sees RCEP as a key element of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an infrastructure project meant to link Asia with Europe, passing through Africa, and with an extension to Latin America.

Articles

Chinese President Xi Jinping struck a strongly nationalistic tone in his closing address on Tuesday to the annual session of the ceremonial parliament, saying China would never allow "one inch" of territory to be separated from it.

China has inked 16 free trade agreements, or FTAs, with 24 countries and regions so far, forming a network that is rooted in neighboring countries, radiating Belt and Road nations and open to the globe.

DBAR ICoE-Bangkok is one of eight such centres around the world. It will leverage Earth observation and big Earth data from satellites and other sources to support decision-makers in the implementation of projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative and managing risks associated with climate change.

China’s top commerce official said on Sunday that it has no intention to start a trade war with the United States and will not initiate one, but the country can cope with any challenge and will defend its national interests.

India and China are seeking to step up the pace in improving ties, with two high-level ministerial meetings this month leading to a summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and a slew of engagements through the year, officials in Delhi and Beijing confirmed to The Hindu .

A Japanese official speaking in Washington discussed conditions for Japan’s participation in China’s BRI project, while also suggesting China seek a partner role in the emerging ’Indo-Pacific Strategy’.

The Belt and Road Initiative puts Myanmar’s natural capital and the lives and livelihoods of 24 million people - half of the country’s population - at risk, according to a report from World Wide Fund for Nature in Myanmar.

There may be a backlash against globalisation in much of the West, but the club of big emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (Brics) is becoming the glue for new inter-regional trade alliances.

The Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society (CGSE), Hong Kong’s gold exchange, is in talks with Singapore, Myanmar and Dubai to establish a gold commodity corridor to promote yuan-denominated products under China’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to its president Haywood Cheung Tak-hay.

Four countries — the US, Japan, India and Australia — could join forces to set up an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative in an attempt to counter Beijing’s growing influence, the Australian Financial Review reported Sunday.

Up to half of Myanmar’s population live in areas that could suffer environmental damage from two giant highways unless the ecological risks are considered, according to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund. The planned roads will form part of China’s continent-crossing network of overseas infrastructure known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Economic corridors have hardly been as controversial as China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI). It could have avoided controversies if it had proceeded in a consultative fashion like multi-country cross-border corridors.

In a proactive move, China has plans under way to provide its own arbitration in any future commercial issues or disputes between the Belt and Road countries. The 68 countries and regions included in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) not only vary in economic strength but also require a stable trade environment with adequate legal safeguards.

3-Sep-2019Via Campesina

La Via Campesina is calling upon its members and allies to not be misled by the smokescreen of a ‘weakening WTO’ and be aware of the new age mega and bilateral free trade agreements are equally if not more harmful.

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